


summus et infimus

by twofoldAxiom



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, ぼくのぴこ | Boku no Pico
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Background Character - Chico's Sister (Boku no Pico), Background Character - Tamotsu|Mokkun (Boku no Pico), Background Character Death, Background Relationships, Bad Ending, Child Soldiers, Childhood Trauma, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dark Crack, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Doomed Timelines, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Manipulation, Heavy Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Kyubey is Awful, M/M, Magical Boys, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Witch Curses, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:47:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29183514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twofoldAxiom/pseuds/twofoldAxiom
Summary: Boys don't usually have the kind of magical potential that Incubators can use to prolong the lifespan of a Universe, but every now and again one or two come along that fit the bill just fine. Why waste the opportunity?
Relationships: Pico/Chico (Boku no Pico)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 6





	1. An Exception

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ValorousOwl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValorousOwl/gifts).



> WARNING: This is not a happy story. I hesitate to use any of the archive tags because they don't exactly fit, but considering the subject matter of both Boku no Pico and Madoka Magica, there's really no other way I could think of this going. I initially planned to finish completely before posting, but it was starting to burn a hole in my files, you know?
> 
> Yes, I'm taking this completely seriously as a story. I was inspired by a very good friend of mine describing the last episode as taking place in a witch's barrier, so this is the unholy fruit of that conversation.
> 
> So, yeah. Be warned!
> 
> (Chapter number is an estimate. I may go a little above that, but I want to keep it fairly short in scope.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be completely clear, Kyubey is being a manipulative bastard and playing up the Cute Mascot angle. I don't know who needs to hear that, but I figured it'd be a good idea to mention it for anyone unfamiliar with the usual direction of my work.

"Hello, Pico."

You jump a little, not in the least because whoever just spoke knows your name. You've been jumpy ever since you'd left home, left behind Tamotsu and your grandfather and everything, so you have no idea who _could_ know your name. It's with some caution that you peer around the road, into the lingering shadows of early morning. You don't see anyone; there's nobody here.

A ghost, maybe? You don't think you want to meet a ghost, whether or not they know your name.

"Who's there?"

"I'm down here." The voice replies to the left, above you, so you look up.

A... cat? You think it's a cat, but not like any cat you've ever seen before? A cat looks down at you, pure white but for markings the color of strawberry syrup. His eyes look straight at you, the same color, two doll-like dots in a smiling face, and his tail sways slowly behind him in a long, snowy puff.

"Did you just speak to me?" You ask, because that's impossible; you're only thirteen, but that's old enough to know cats don't talk. Right?

"Yes, I did." Says the cat, though his mouth doesn't move. He hops down from the wall and sits in front of you, tail still swaying as he cleans his face. "I've been meaning to speak with you for some time, Pico. My name is Kyubey, and I'm here to offer you a contract to become a magical girl."

You frown. "Cats- um- cats can't talk. And I'm not a girl, so I think we're both confused; I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to apologize." He stops cleaning his face. "And I'm not a cat, I'm Kyubey. But no, I'm not confused at all; I specifically sought you out due to your unusual potential."

This cat, or Kyubey, or whatever he is- you feel a familiar warmth in your chest, aching with memory. He reminds you of Tamotsu- Mokkun- from before he disappeared, before the light left his eyes and he walked away and never looked back. _Potential_ , he says, the same way your Mokkun had said you could be more than you are, if only you let him help you.

You still want that, don't you?

You crouch down to be a little more level with him, knees on the sidewalk, hands on your knees.

"Alright." You say. "But I'm not a girl. I... knew someone who wanted me to be, but that's not really who I am."

"Do you want to be?"

You think of Mokkun again. You remember how he looked at you when you wore the clothes he bought, but also how he held you even when you tried to distance yourself from that, from him. You... You would do it for Mokkun, but would you do it for yourself? Do you love yourself like you loved him?

You can't say you do. Not like that.

Kyubey's expression never changes, his tail still swaying behind him.

"I ask you this because of the simple fact that you have greater potential to use magic than boys tend to be. Typically I would only ask girls, and even then few girls truly have the potential to grasp the enormity of their fate. However, as things have turned out, I've observed you for some time and you show a unique sort of promise to handle the task."

There it is again. Responsibility, and how unique you are, and how you're the only one who can do whatever it is that Kyubey is asking of you. You don't think he's asking what Mokkun had asked of you; or rather, you don't think you could handle showing your love to what looks like a stuffed toy in that way, not that sort of love at least, and Kyubey doesn't look at you like Mokkun had.

Mokkun had left before leading you to your full potential as he'd promised. You wonder if that's what Kyubey is offering: Happiness, the kind you almost had.

You smile, mildly. It doesn't hurt to hope a little.

"You seem to have come to a decision of some kind." Kyubey tilts his head to the side, walking a little closer.

"Not... exactly. First I want to know what happens if I sign."

"Simple." Kyubey straightens. His eyes reflect the early morning around him in strawberry-syrup reds. "I will grant you a single wish; even a miracle isn't beyond your grasp, should you choose it. You'll gain the ability to use magic, and in exchange, you'll fight witches."

A miracle. Would it take a miracle to get Mokkun back? Kyubey starts cleaning his face again, the long tassels hanging from his ears waving like ribbons. You're not sure what you'd even wish for, now that the option presents itself. Do you _want_ Mokkun back, after he left like that?

The morning sun beats down on your head, cicada-song filling the summer air.

"What's a witch?" You ask, stalling. You think of your grandpa, and kindly old ladies, and your grandmother from long ago though you barely remember her face. "I don't want to fight an old lady if she uses magic, too. She's probably better at it than I am, right?"

"What a strange question." You're not sure which one he's referring to. "At any rate, your hope will be what combats the despair wrought by a witch, and that should be enough. Simply put: it's the power of your wish that will help you fight. This is why it's important that you wish for something you would give your life for. What is it, truly, that you will fight for?"

You remember. Working at Bebe with your grandfather, the long, empty days interrupted only by travellers and their stories. Swimming in deep water so clear you can still see the sand far below, like you're flying.

An empty stomach. The promise of vanilla icecream. Warm hands on your skin as you lie back on a hot car seat, t he heady mix of discomfort and fear and a sense of purpose, and, and,

You snap out of it as a car passes by, the roar of the engine finally bringing you out of your own head. Kyubey is still there, curled up in front of you, looking up at you with his head resting on his folded forepaws.

"I think I know what to wish for. It's all I've ever wanted."

"Alright." Kyubey sits back up, stretching like the cat he insists he isn't, fur fluffed up around his shoulders before he settles back on his haunches. His eyes seem darker, shadowed. The tassels on his ears wave in an unseen wind. "Tell me, Pico. What is it your heart desires? What shape of wish will make your soul gem shine?"

You swallow. Your chest hurts, insides feeling cramped and heavy with the weight of what you want; the shape of the words sit in your throat, ready to burst. You think you might cry. Why do you want to cry?

"I just want to be happy." You say. "I want someone to love me as I am. I _..._ "

Kyubey says nothing, but it feels like the sunlight around you is burning brighter, shadows cast in sharp contrast. The tassels raise over his head, the edges casting dark shapes across the pavement like wings- or grasping hands.

"I wish to find someone who will make me happy. Really, truly happy, for who I am, on my terms."

You think a flash goes across Kyubey's eyes. You almost flinch away as the tassels reach for you, but the edges phase through your skin like nothing, as if you were made of smoke.

"Then take it, Pico." Kyubey says. You feel him grab hold of something, and then a twist, something being pulled out of place, but you can't even begin to tell where it hurts or why. The pain is shocking, but what strikes you is the sudden, complete _grief_ you feel. Like you're made of it. Like you're nothing but your despair in person shape.

Your knees buckle as Kyubey takes back the tassels and- there's something gleaming between them, even in the harsh daylight that stings your eyes. You feel yourself floating, falling backwards, reaching towards a light like the sun as it solidifies in your fingers, smooth and cool as steel. Kyubey's voice drifts across your consciousness, a balm you didn't know you needed, a lifebuoy.

"Take your soul gem and accept your destiny."

A truck passes by, deafeningly loud. 

You're on your feet on the sidewalk in the middle of a summer morning, staring at the rapidly shrinking shape of a truck as it barrels down the road and into the distance. The weight of the gem in your hand feels like a promise, glassy and green, and if you focus just right, you can feel it pulse with warmth against your skin, like a heartbeat not quite your own.

Kyubey is nowhere to be seen. You look at the gem in your hand and watch it dissolve into rippling light, reforming into a ring around your middle finger, matched by a green mark on your fingernail.

If your wish came true, you're not sure what this means exactly. You keep walking, into a side street now, under the shade. Distantly, you hear the burbling of a stream.

~!~

When you meet Chico, it clicks. He's bright-eyed and sweet, treats you like the brother you never had, and is completely, _absolutely_ , nothing like Tamotsu.

He loves you, he says. He loves you, and you love him. You'll love him like Tamotsu never loved you, and in the end, you'll be happy.


	2. What will you fight for?

It's three months into joining the ranks of magical girls as the only magical boy you've ever heard of that you find out what happened to Tamotsu.

"A witch's kiss," Kyubey explains as you look om, "is the curse of a witch given to a normal human. This is what you're fighting against."

All this time you'd thought he left you for someone else, that you'd been too much for him, or not enough, or any number of reasons why he would leave you. All this time and he'd been cursed. You don't know how to feel and settle on not feeling anything at all, as you stay by Tamotsu's side as the seizures finally stop, as the life fades from his eyes into horrible stillness. 

You stand up and dust yourself off. You're well past him, now; and he's beyond your help.

"You should hurry. The witch isn't going to wait for you before it destroys someone else." Kyubey leaps off your shoulder, darting deeper into the labyrinth.

You won't let the same happen to Chico. You're happy with him, you'll _be_ happy with him.

_What is it, truly, that you will fight for?_

Happiness. 

_Your_ happiness. 

_Chico._

The witch rears from the shadows and you can see Chico in its grasp, about to be devoured. The light in your soul gem burns, bursts out of you like fireworks.

You think of summer sunlight and the burble of a stream, as the witch screams and the light of your magic burns through it. You tear it to shreds, magic rippling through you like a thunderstorm, like it's going to rip you apart in turn. You grit your teeth through the strain, the white-hot pain of too much magic being used all at once, your heart thumping against your ribs and in your brain.

You think of Chico holding you close, cupping your face in his hands as you look up at him, and crush the witch in an explosion that feels like it could swallow you whole.

Kyubey licks his paws clean as you stumble back to the ground. He watches, still grooming himself, as you stagger towards where the witch had been, a grief seed balanced on its needle-like point, wobbling only slightly when you pick it up.

The barrier falls apart and you're left standing in an empty gymnasium.

Chico, where is Chico?

Chico. _Chico_ , he's lying on the floor, still and pale, and you're terrified you're too late, but when you reach him he's breathing, his eyes twitching slightly in dreams. You take the grief seed with shaking hands and press it to your soul gem until the darkness leeches out of it and you feel the air return to your lungs. You check him for wounds, or worse, a witch's kiss, but nothing. He may as well have fallen asleep in the grass.

It doesn't matter. You're exhausted, but you sling your arms under him and carry him home, holding him close and listening to the softness of his breathing and the steadiness of his heartbeat. Would Chico remember being in the labyrinth? Or would it be nothing more than an elaborate nightmare?

~!~

He wakes up, safe in bed, long past nightfall, and he has no idea why you've been standing vigil at his side instead of snuggled up with him under the covers. He raises his arms out to you, mumbling sleepily, "'s cold without you, please come in?" And how could you refuse? He doesn't seem suspicious about why you weren't in the bed already, and you pet his hair as you get under the covers with him, his face buried in your collarbones. He's cold, too cold, but he warms up quickly in your embrace, tangling is arms and legs around you to try and get as much warmth as possible.

You lie there and hold each other and tell stories about your lives before you met, before this happiness that you could never have imagined, and he tells you how much he loves you, how much he looks up to you, over and over until you can't hold it in anymore.

"Don't cry!" He says, which is about when you notice your tears, too. You didn't even realize you were crying, curled against him in the thick, soft mass of tangled blankets. He cups your face in his hands and kisses the tears off your eyelashes, chaste and warm. You pull him closer and closer until it feels like you'll never be whole without him. Maybe you never will! Does he feel the same?

If your wish came true, he has to. You'll never be alone again. You fall asleep with him, practically glowing with contentment, though sleep comes a little too easy. You wanted to lie awake and just hold him a little longer, but the sun is up before you know it.

~!~

He's still hugging you, pale sunlight through the window casting soft shadows on his face. Kyubey's shadow blocks a corner of the sunlight from the window sill, tail swaying side to side, as you tuck Chico in further and crawl carefully out of bed. Chico mumbles in his sleep and buries his face into the pillow you'd left behind.

"Have you used up that grief seed yet?" Kyubey asks. "You'll need to dispose of it soon. There's only so much magic one can restore."

"You mean I'll need to fight another witch?" You blink, confused, as you open the window for Kyubey so he can come in. "I don't think there _are_ any more witches here. I couldn't find the last one without your help."

"You'd be surprised; now that I've shown you how to see them, shouldn't it be easier to find them? At any rate, even if you don't fight, the magic of your wish will be steadily used up every day, so it's really in your best interest to keep fighting witches despite the difficulty."

You feel a chill, a creeping darkness in the morning. You glance over at Chico, still asleep, still unaware of the life you lead (and you want to keep it that way, of course; he wouldn't be able to help you, as Kyubey had once told you.)

"I guess so." You rub the back of your neck. "But where would I even find more witches?"

"Where there are people, there are witches." Kyubey hops up on a table now, turning around twice before settling onto his paws. "You could go into the city to hunt. It might be a good idea to leave Chico behind for a little while if that's what you plan to do."

"Huh. Well..." You don't like the sound of that, but what choice do you have? You would give anything to keep Chico safe. Tamotsu had been something you could let go of, but the thought of Chico leaving you- or worse- makes you want to claw your eyes out.

"I can take care of Chico while you're out, if that's what worries you so much. I'll even bear the supposed indignity of letting him think I'm a cat."

Kyubey's words lift a weight from your shoulders that you almost didn't know was there. You laugh, maybe a little surprised with yourself, and pet him between the ears. "You always know what to say, don't you?"

He tilts his head up and closes his eyes, nuzzling warmly against your palm, and when you withdraw he hops off the table and curls up beside Chico in the bed. He's so light that his paws barely make dents in the covers, and Chico doesn't stir at all.

You lean down to press a kiss to Chico's forehead. Kyubey watches with his usual feline detachment, and then rests his head on Chico's chest.

"Do try to be back before lunch." Kyubey says. "I don't need to eat, but I'm sure we both understand the simple pleasure of eating just because you can, and Chico himself will likely find something to worry about regarding your absence if you're gone too long."

"I don't even want to leave. At least let me stay long enough to have breakfast."

If he's right, then you know where to look to find witches, but you're not looking forward to that in the slightest; at least not on an empty stomach.

"Suit yourself." He says, covering his eyes with his tail. You can't stay mad at him when he's like that. 

You give him another scritch behind the ears and head downstairs to make pancakes. If you're going to fight like you did when you saved Chico, you're going to need as much energy as you can get!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had this written out yesterday but I didn't want to drop two chapters in one day.


	3. I wanted to help!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is about the part where Pico gets suspicious of Kyubey. Too bad it doesn't help.

You hit the wall of the witch's sanctum with a deafening _crunch_ , your shoulder bursting with pain like you've never felt before; your bones feel loose in your skin, bruised if not broken. The witch itself, a jerky collage of pastel and glass overlaid on reality, shrieks in rage as it unfurls another whiplike arm at you and flings you against the ceiling. 

For one, brief moment, your world is nothing, before your body catches up with what's happening and you think, oh, you're falling.

You have just enough time to regret leaving Chico this morning. Still, you refuse to close your eyes as the witch rears back for the final blow.

"Pico!"

All you see is a flash of gold, before you're safely laid down on the ground, in an alcove too far for the witch to reach. Chico looks down at you, trembling, eyes full of tears. Kyubey peers down at you from his shoulder.

"What-" Your voice cracks, grief, anger, relief, but all that comes out is exhaustion and confusion. "what are you _doing here?"_

"I brought him here." Kyubey says, and if you could move both arms you'd wring his little neck. "He asked where you were, and I saw no reason to deny him."

"I wanted to help!" Chico admits. "Kyubey said I couldn't because I didn't have magic like you, but I wished to be strong enough to help you!"

Help? You turn to Chico. Your dismay must show because he cups your face in his hands and shushes you, eyes hard and determined as he looks back towards the witch's sanctum. A gold gem gleams at his throat, bright and fierce, like a small sun caught in his skin.

Kyubey's tail flicks over your face as he turns around. "You should probably kill that witch before someone else shows up. You've already used quite a lot of magic." He says, and Chico starts to stand.

"No!" You want to scream, but all that comes out of you is a pained croak. Still, you force yourself to get up, supporting yourself on your unbroken arm. Chico kneels beside you again, steadying you while the world spins. His arms feel like the safest place in the world. "Don't- don't go alone. Wait for me. _Please_."

You can't let him face it alone. _You can't_. You focus on your gem and feel the warmth of its magic flowing into your broken body, flesh and bone knitting back into place; you feel yourself weaken further from it, you won't be able to fight as well as you could in top form, but you don't have a choice. 

Chico helps you stand. Your legs shake under you but you won't let yourself lean on him for long. Somehow he can smile at you, and somehow that manages to make you feel a little better, a little stronger. What was it Kyubey said about the power of hope? You certainly hope it's enough.

You ready the light in your hands as Chico draws a sword from the empty air, a cruel blade as long as he is tall, and you turn the sight of Chico's hands gripping its hilt over and over in your mind. You're not sure how to feel about such gentle hands holding a weapon at all. In the depths of your heart, you never want to see him hold it again.

But how can you do that if he needs to fight witches now, too? You ache with the idea, gritting your teeth.

Chico leaps right at the witch, wreathed in rippling, golden flames, like a comet. You raise your hands and loose explosion after explosion into its hundreds of eyes, bright enough to light up every crevice of the cavern, and your arms shake, your fingertips cold despite the warmth of that light, but Chico slices into the witch with his sword and every cut blooms with fire. He's unstoppable, untouchable; he's the most beautiful, terrifying thing you've ever seen. The witch swipes at him and he twists away from it with the same ease he rides his bike.

From where you stand, even as your knees crumple and your limbs go numb, you smile. Your heart is warm despite the cold creeping into your body, the frostbitten pain that closes your throat.

_How could you have doubted Chico, even for a moment?_

Spots dance in what remains of your vision. You see yourself, standing just a few meters away, but you walk closer and closer until you can see that your own face is in shadow.

_You love him so much. He gives you so much. Won't you take care of him in return?_

Can you?

Hands, your hands, reach towards you; your own fingers cup your cold cheeks, warm in a way you think you'll never be again. You lean into the touch and fall, and before you hit the floor you've already passed out.

~!~

You wake up in the bed you share at the house. Birds chirp outside the window, but it's early enough that you still hear crickets singing, too. Chico is snuggled up against your chest.

You flex your fingers, and thumb at the ring of your soul gem, slightly warm. It's brighter than you remember, and you feel a kind of peace settle over you at the sight.

You breathe, and then because you're so relieved and comfortable, you yawn and snuggle into the covers, Chico's warm weight making it even easier to drift towards-

"Ah, you're awake." Says Kyubey, preening on a desk chair. You frown as he hops onto the bed, padding over to sit beside your face. "You're terribly lucky. Chico used his grief seed to top up your soul gem, and there was only just enough to replenish what he'd used up when you'd finished. His wish was unusual, but it seems to have made him about as powerful as you were when you started."

You stare.

"To be honest, I'm not sure how long that might last. You'll have to gather grief seeds at twice the rate now, but that shouldn't be a problem with two of you."

"I think I almost died." You murmur.

"Indeed." Kyubey turns to look at Chico, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "And with how much magic you used, that's not a surprise at all. With Chico having contracted, you'll only get to use every grief seed once each at best, if not once in total. Unless you want to shoulder his burden as well, of course. You'd cut his magic consumption at least by half."

It comes back to you, that Chico made a contract to help you. Chico wished to be strong enough to beat that witch with you. You should ask him what he thinks, but.

Chico, wreathed in flames, a sword striking like lightning; the memory flashes across your thoughts and then disappears, leaving a lingering sense of unease. You don't want to let him fight alone, but you don't want to let him fight at all. You don't want to fight alone either, selfish as it is to put Chico in danger like that.

And you saw yourself, before everything went dark and cold and you woke up so far away from the fight. Maybe you saw your own ghost, your face smudged out like a smear of chalk. Isn't that something that only happens when you're about to die?

Your head hurts. Your throat hurts more, like when you've swallowed something hot, or when you're about to cry.

"You said he didn't have magic like I did." You feel like you're being crushed. Like when Tamotsu walked away. Some part of you is at least glad Chico sleeps like a stone, so he doesn't have to see you like this. "Wasn't that supposed to keep him safe?"

"He still doesn't. It's what makes his wish, and potentially his personal magic, as unique and unpredictable as it is." One of the tassels from Kyubey's ears brushes hair from Chico's face, and you resist the urge to snatch it away like a bug. "If I could be impressed, I might be. But it _will_ come with consequences."

You gulp. Fear replaces your betrayal so fast you feel dizzy. "Like what?"

"What a strange question to ask." Not for the first time, Kyubey almost sounds annoyed. "I'll have to look into it regardless, but simply put, the effects of his wish won't be readily apparent until more cases can be studied. Your contracts were successful and even considerably powerful, but there is, after all, a very small sample size of magical boys to study."

You hug Chico closer. He makes a noise in his sleep, and when he can't turn over like he wants, yawns and opens his eyes. Kyubey stays put. Chico looks between the two of you and, unaware or ignoring the chilly tension, kisses your cheek and slides out of bed.

"What are you two talking about?" He asks, between yawning and rubbing his eyes. You look at Kyubey, but Kyubey looks only at Chico.

"Tactics." Kyubey answers. "Now that you two are a team, you'll need to coordinate the way you fight, especially as Pico currently has a brighter gem than you after you saved him yesterday. Isn't that right, Pico?"

Yesterday. _Yesterday._ A full day has passed since Chico saved you? How could you be so reckless?

But Chico smiles at you, fully awake now; maybe he mistakes your silence for hesitation, or embarrassment. He takes your hands and squeezes them between his palms. You think he might be a little warmer, or maybe you just run colder now.

"If we're a team, we'll be the best team there ever was. So tell me everything! What did you plan out? Did you name any of your special attacks without me? Kyubey said you were a magical boy before we met!"

You look at your clasped hands and just let the warmth seep into you. It feels like sunlight on your skin, like he's made of it, and you could tell him anything, couldn't you? You could conquer the world for him.

"We'll go into town together this time." You say. "We don't have to just fight witches, either. We can get snacks and check out some of the new shops while we look around, and we can keep talking about how to fight whatever witches we find while we're there. We aren't in a hurry, right?"

"Yeah!" 

You can't help but smile back at him, even as the cold eats away at wherever he isn't holding you.


	4. It's better with all three of us, isn't it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CoCo doesn't have all that big a part actually, but that'll be explained in the epilogue.

The day passes like any other normal day. It's a Saturday, so the streets are crowded, but you hold Chico's hand and the two of you explore the city more than you pay attention to the signs of magic. If there are any witches lurking in the dark corners today, you don't sense them.

"Do you think we'll actually catch any before we head home?" Chico asks, whipped cream hanging off the end of his nose. He stuffs the last of his crepe into his mouth and then swipes the cream off on his thumb, sucking it down, too. When he notices you watching, he puffs his cheeks out. "What?"

"You suck your thumb just like a baby." You laugh when he sticks his tongue out at you, and then shake your head, looking back out at the street. The sun's going down by now, signs lighting up all around you. Should you go home soon? "I don't know. You have your cellphone, right? Maybe we can look around without each other for a little while, and meet back somewhere closer to home."

"Pfft," He elbows you. "Are you sure? You just called me a baby. Someone might snatch me up!"

"You know I wouldn't let that happen. I'd be right there if anyone tried; no need to worry." You nuzzle into his hair, one arm around his shoulders. "Even if a witch or a magical girl tried to get you, I'd protect you."

He doesn't answer for a minute. You look down and see him sticking his tongue out, trying to get a lick of the icecream in your other hand, so you just laugh and let go and let him have it. You can never resist him, can you? You'll spoil him at this rate. (You want to; he deserves everything he wants.)

But he agrees to wander around without you. You know it'll be good for both of you; you can cover more ground, and he can find you faster than you can find him if he needs to. 

You cast your magic out, a faint glow coming off your soul gem.

"Are you sure you want to do that right now?"

You nearly walk into a post, Kyubey's voice surprising you so badly you stumble in place. Chico has gone in the other direction, leaving you to converse alone. You frown.

"Are you offering to help me?"

"I have nothing to offer but a word of advice." He says, tail curled around the post you'd nearly walked into. Staring up at him hurts a little; the streetlamp outshines him, leaving only his beady, red eyes in sight. "You're still weak from that last battle. Certainly too weak to face a witch on your own. Wouldn't it be smarter to accompany Chico?"

Maybe. But you don't want to listen to him, not after he betrayed you by giving Chico a contract in the first place. You bite the inside of your cheek and keep walking, leaving Kyubey behind.

~!~

There's a small hitch in the plan when, in the middle of town with no witches in sight, you realize you can't feel Chico's magic anymore. For a while you push on, but the weight of Kyubey's warning- even if you don't want to listen to it- makes you second guess yourself. 

An hour later, you cave and call Chico, the sun having gone down a long while ago, and try to find him that way. It's just too bad he keeps choosing landmarks that move around: A dog, a car, the tower in the city square... You stay calm on the phone, but your hands shake, and even Chico can tell you're getting frustrated, but why wouldn't you be? What if something happens to him?

Your phone goes dead. You stare at the battery, humming in disappointment.

Then the whole city goes dark. Streetlamps. Stores. Even car headlights disappear into the dark.

The hair on the back of your neck stands up as magic crackles through the air, bitingly cold, but you're not in a barrier, or at least you don't feel like you are. The moon hangs huge and still in the sky, the stars spreading out around it like dots of sugar on blueish-black paper. The only other light, the only lights that haven't gone out, are four posts on top of a building up ahead, lighting up the slim, pale figure of a girl in a sundress. 

You watch, from hundreds of feet below, as her dress flutters in the wind and she dives. Water splashes high enough for you to see over the edge of the building. 

And just like that, the lights come back on. Your phone does, too; maybe you jostled it wrong earlier, because the battery's back up to at least three bars.

You call Chico, humming to yourself as you find somewhere to sit and he finally, finally picks up. " _Pico? Are you okay? The lights went off all over, so I got a bit worried, and I think I felt a witch but it disappeared before I could really figure out if it was or not. I think we should go home. What about you?"_

Chico's voice shakes slightly, and really, can you blame him? "I still have to find you, but, maybe you should find me instead. Do you think that'll be okay?"

You wonder at what you just saw; wonder why the lights stayed on for that girl. A magical girl, maybe? Was she what Kyubey meant to warn you about?

"That's a good idea. We should have done that from the start. Where are you?"

You look around. "Between a coffee shop, a convenience store, and- oh, a pet store. There's a string of Christmas lights in the coffee shop window, and a big, white bird in the pet store display."

He finds you in fifteen minutes.

~!~

Three days later, the girl from the top of the tower introduces himself as CoCo and invites you to his house. You still feel that strange, cold magic around him, but it's nothing like your own or Chico's or even Kyubey's, and definitely not like a witch. You say nothing as he leads you underground, into a room full of toys and clothes and sweets. Apparently, he lives there, and you're too amazed to wonder _how._

He tells you about hearts and brains and fairies and past lives, about calico cats and nervous systems, cellphones that talk to each other, towers where you can see the city's secrets.

Not once do you see Kyubey that day, or the day after that, or the day after that. Not once do you feel any witches, as if CoCo's presence smooths the world over for you and Chico alone. The world is brighter and emptier at once, just the three of you.

CoCo is. Strange, to say the least, but he's kind and beautiful and responsive, exciting in a way Chico hasn't been in a long time, and, and,

You lie awake that night, wondering when you began to fall in love with someone else. But Chico is your happiness, isn't he? Chico took a contract for you. Chico could disappear if you don't fight more witches. Can you really stay with CoCo and forget all that?

You turn to face Chico where he's tangled up in the sheets CoCo pulled out for him, drooling and snoring. You hear trains pass, far away, even though all you feel down here is wind where those trains should be. 

You should tell CoCo, shouldn't you? About magic and Kyubey and everything, about your wishes, about how you feel.

Or does he already know?

~!~

“Bye-bye.”

You’re so stunned for a moment that you stand there, watching CoCo walk away, and then your brain catches up with you and you nearly faint.

You and Chico spend the afternoon hunting for him. His room beneath the trains is gone. There's nobody in the city to ask if they've seen him, and nobody who could tell you where he went even if they'd wanted to. The both of you search high and low until the sun dips lower and lower, and the crushing cold ache of what you’ve done to chase CoCo off is enough to numb your fingertips.

You see yourself, as if from a distant point, small and helpless and leading Chico around, Chico gasping for air as he tries to follow after you at the pace you've set.

You cling to him, shaking all over, but you can't stop. He helps you to your feet and you feel like a monster for putting even that burden on him, but his eyes are bright with an inner fire as he pulls you along when you can't go any further.

~!~

And it's Chico who finds CoCo in the end.

The two of you find him atop the red tower overlooking the city, the tower where he said you can see all the city's secrets if you watch the sun set.

“It’s better with all three of us, isn’t it?” He says, and any rage you might have felt at having him lead you around like that evaporates as Chico pulls the three of you into an embrace.

You watch the moon rise together, tangled in a pile, and you think that might be what he meant. You're warm and frozen at the same time, sandwiched between him and Chico as you tell them both how much you love them. They kiss you back between every word, hands in your hair and on your cheeks and shoulders.

You shouldn't have doubted them. You shouldn't have pulled away from CoCo when you had, shouldn't have worried about your flagging strength when Chico carried you. Chico and CoCo, they're all the world you need; of course they'll pull through.

CoCo holds your hands and meets your eyes with a smile that sends you soaring and plummeting at once, and Chico laughs, brilliant as the sun. You think of summer sunlight and a bracing, moonlit night. You think of a burbling stream, and floating in seawater. They kiss the tears off your cheeks and you think, you'll never feel anything but happiness again.

Stars twinkle overhead, specks of white sugar in a blue-black paper sky.


	5. Epilogue: Kyoko Sakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything is unclear, feel free to ask about it!

_When you meet Chico, it clicks. He's bright-eyed and sweet, treats you like the brother you never had, and is completely, absolutely, nothing like Tamotsu._

_He loves you, he says. He loves you, and you love him._

Chico wakes up first, kissing you on the nose. The sun rises bright and perfect in a cloudless, ocean-blue sky, stars shimmering across the clouds like glitter.

"I'm hungry." Chico says. "Do you want to get pancakes again? Or maybe crepes." He stretches his arms over his head until his shoulders pop, before stooping over you, nose to nose. "Should we wake CoCo up? Maybe he'll know somewhere we can get good breakfast. He said he knows everything about the city!"

~!~

_"Have you used up that grief seed yet?" Kyubey asks. "You'll need to dispose of it soon. There's only so much magic one can restore."_

_"You mean I'll need to fight another witch?" You blink, confused, as you open the window for Kyubey so he can come in. "I don't think there are any more witches here. I couldn't find the last one without your help."_

_"You'd be surprised; now that I've shown you how to see them, shouldn't it be easier to find them? At any rate, even if you don't fight, the magic of your wish will be steadily used up every day, so it's really in your best interest to keep fighting witches despite the difficulty."_

CoCo curls up against your back, arms around your waist. It's hard to decide if you're going to get up and follow Chico or stay asleep, especially if it means waking CoCo up. The bedding under you is soft and inviting, and the breeze carries the sound of sea birds and waves even to the top of the tower. You're not even hungry; you don't feel like much of anything at all, but you can't say no to that face, can you?

~!~

_"I wanted to help!" Chico admits. "Kyubey said I couldn't because I didn't have magic like you, but I wished to be strong enough to help you!"_

_Help? You turn to Chico. Your dismay must show because he cups your face in his hands and shushes you, eyes hard and determined as he looks back towards the witch's sanctum. A gold gem gleams at his throat, bright and fierce, like a small sun caught in his skin._

"I think I'd like crepes. Anything else you want to do today?" You ask, smoothing your hands up Chico's arm even as CoCo nuzzles against your neck. His hands are warm in yours when you twine your fingers together, smooth and flawless. You look at your fingers, numb with cold, but you don't care as long as Chico and CoCo are here with you. They can be as warm as you need.

~!~

And you lived happily ever after.

~!~

_And you lived happily ever after._

~!~

**_And you lived happily ever after._ **

~!~

You've found it. Sunlight and bubbles gleam at the edges of your vision as you step into the labyrinth, a blast of sea breeze tugging at your hair and clothes as you alight on a buoy on the other side.

The barrier closes behind you, and you find yourself standing in the middle of an endless sea. The false sun glints off crystalline water, sugar-crystal stars shining in the paper sky despite the brightness of it, and up ahead- wow, that's pretty far away actually; what a pain- is a massive red tower that rises from the horizon. You squint into the distance and see the witch at the very peak, because of course it is, but the closer you get, hopping from buoy to rail to floating detritus, the clearer it is that something isn't right.

You cast out your magic and feel a soul gem... at the very peak of that tower. Hmm.

"Kyoko Sakura." Kyubey appears on a floating mannequin, and swims over to you. "I had hoped you would be in the neighborhood."

"What the fuck happened here, Kyubey?" You narrow your eyes as you look up at the figures of a witch and a familiar, curled up around a little boy. You can sense the corruption in his gem even here, but it shouldn't even be possible for him to survive being so close to a witch, or for that matter, have a soul gem at all. Is he witch-kissed? An illusion? His magic feels weird and poisonous, almost witch-like, and you withdraw, shaking your head like you're shaking off cobwebs. You put a biscuit stick in your mouth, crunching in annoyance. "Explain."

"An experiment." Kyubey answers, bobbing up and down in the water. You stand on a buoy, submerged playground equipment and theme park attractions as far as the eye can see. A train whistles in the distance. "This was one of my few attempts at creating magical boy contracts. As you can see, the results were less than ideal, and far too unstable to be sustainable. I was already about to ask you to deal with it for me."

"I'll say. And since when did I become your cleanup crew? That's so lame." Poor kid, though; how does someone even manage to fuck up that badly? You hope killing the witch snaps him out of it, but with how caught up he is in its embrace, you're pretty sure he's going to die in there. You're still taking any grief seeds the witch might drop, though. It's just a part of the job, and you've been having a hard time finding _any_ witches as of late as it is.

"So what will you do, Kyoko Sakura?" Kyubey doggy-paddles until he's in front of you. "It doesn't seem like you to hesitate."

"Stop talking and maybe you'll actually get to see some action." You crunch down the last bit of biscuit in your mouth, lick up the crumbs from the box, and toss it aside. Crystalline waves lap at your ankles, cold and bracing even under the false summer sun. Your spear materializes in your hands, and you split it in half and throw the business end towards the nearest jut like a harpoon, bridging the distance with a length of chain. You test your weight to make sure it'll hold and start climbing.

It's gonna be a long, tiring climb. Ugh.

Kyubey can stay where he is for now. You'll ask the little bastard about magical boys later, if you even care to remember as much. If something eats him, well, that's not actually your problem, but at least it'll tell you if there's anything in the water.

You really hope there isn't anything in the water. You look down for a split second and see your shadow against the sand, impossibly far below the shadow of the tower's legs. Plastic-looking fish stir the water in schools, laughing and gossiping as they pass. Fucking labyrinths; not even the decency to have an elevator like a real radio tower would.

You shake your head and continue to climb.

~!~

_Pascal, the Playground Witch, with a naïve nature._

_This witch turns its face inwards, completely focused on its favorite treasures. It guards them selfishly from a cruel world that would take them away, obsessing over its treasures' happiness at the exclusion of all else._

_In the labyrinth it has constructed for itself, there is no pain and no sadness, and there exist only the witch, its toys, and its most prized possessions. The witch spends its days in a rotation of idle pleasures, blowing bubbles that reflect memories of summer days or constructing playgrounds in which it can have the childhood it lost long ago._

_Humans who find themselves under this witch's influence are regressed back to a carefree, childlike state wherein they seek only pleasure, but no longer have a distinction between pleasure and pain, losing themselves to hedonism and sensation. Humans who find themselves in the witch's barrier will dissolve into bubbles over time, their sweetest, softest memories used to construct the playgrounds of the labyrinth._

_Magical girls who wish to defeat this witch will have an easy time, as the witch is too distracted by its playthings to even look at them. The primary danger within the labyrinth is its familiar, far more powerful than the witch itself._

~!~

_CoCo, minion of the Playground Witch, who's duty is to bring happiness._

_This is the witch’s favorite and only familiar, who provides the witch with games and toys to play with. This familiar is largely harmless, but will defend the witch from anyone who seeks to cause it harm, manipulating the very fabric of the labyrinth to best please its master. CoCo is a very vain and fickle familiar, and is easily distracted by the suggestions of a reason to doubt the witch's loyalty, occasionally disappearing entirely from self-doubt. Just as easily, however, it will convince itself that the witch deserves its protection, so magical girls must always be on their guard._


End file.
